European and African Leaders Near Deal on Returning Migrants

Nov. 11, 2015

Updated 8:34 p.m.

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British Prime Minister David Cameorn arrives at the Auberge de Castille palace, the Prime Minister office, on the occasion of an informal European Union and African leaders summit on migration held in Valletta, Malta, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2015. The meeting of leaders is to map strategy to beef up development project aid in Africa and set up mechanisms to repatriate migrants Europe says don't deserve its protection. ALESSANDRA TARANTINO , THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

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Sudan's President Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir, arrives at the Auberge de Castille palace, the Prime Minister office, where an informal European Union and African leaders summit on migration is held in Valletta, Malta, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2015. The meeting of leaders is to map strategy to beef up development project aid in Africa and set up mechanisms to repatriate migrants Europe says don't deserve its protection. ALESSANDRA TARANTINO , THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

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Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras arrives at the Auberge de Castille palace, the Prime Minister office, on the occasion of an informal European Union and African leaders summit on migration held in Valletta, Malta, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2015. The meeting of leaders is to map strategy to beef up development project aid in Africa and set up mechanisms to repatriate migrants Europe says don't deserve its protection. ALESSANDRA TARANTINO , THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrives at the Auberge de Castille palace, the Prime Minister office, on the occasion of an informal European Union and African leaders summit on migration held in Valletta, Malta, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2015. The meeting of leaders is to map strategy to beef up development project aid in Africa and set up mechanisms to repatriate migrants Europe says don't deserve its protection. ANTONIO CALANNI , THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

British Prime Minister David Cameorn arrives at the Auberge de Castille palace, the Prime Minister office, on the occasion of an informal European Union and African leaders summit on migration held in Valletta, Malta, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2015. The meeting of leaders is to map strategy to beef up development project aid in Africa and set up mechanisms to repatriate migrants Europe says don't deserve its protection. ALESSANDRA TARANTINO , THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

VALLETTA, Malta – The European Union was closing in on a deal Wednesday to return more migrants to Africa, but there was skepticism that the plan would meet the goal of reducing the numbers of refugees arriving in Germany, Scandinavia and other destinations.

Europe sends less than 40 percent of migrants who do not qualify for asylum back to their countries of origin. The draft deal being hashed out at a meeting of European leaders here is aimed partly at raising that figure.

Faced with its largest migration challenge since World War II, Europe is increasingly trying to draw a distinction between people who are coming primarily for economic opportunity and those fleeing war and persecution. Yet as the summit meeting began, African leaders appeared set on reminding their European counterparts just how tricky that distinction can be.

Accepting returned migrants “is a difficult subject” for Africans, said President Macky Sall of Senegal. “We have people who have often taken chances with their lives in terrible conditions, who have crossed deserts and the Mediterranean,” and there had been “thousands of deaths,” Sall told reporters.

“We have to have a frank discussion,” said Sall, who emphasized that there also needed to be a focus on allowing Africans to stay in Europe.

Even so, more than 60 leaders of European and African nations were expected to give their preliminary approval to the deal, which would not prevent African migrants like those from Eritrea, who often qualify for asylum, from staying in Europe.

“This action plan will fight illegal immigration and it will do more for legal possibilities to work in Europe,” Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany told reporters. She said Europe had “clear demands and expectations” for Africa.

But the focus on Africa sidestepped some of the larger challenges associated with the flow of people into Europe. Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan are currently among the main sources of migrants reaching Europe, and many of them are coming through Turkey and the western Balkans rather than across the Mediterranean Sea via North Africa.

The plan has raised deep concerns from human rights groups over the welfare of migrants.

The deal is likely to provide for about $1.9 billion from the EU budget to help pay for the initiative and to help address the root causes of migration.

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